Ozzy Osbourne: The Story of Diary Of A Madman | Classic Rock | Louder - video Dailymotion

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40+ years on, Diary Of A Madman still stands as a classic Ozzy Osbourne album from a band at its peak.

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00:00The story of Diary of a Madman is often overshadowed by what happened next.

00:07The years after Diary of a Madman were peak Ozzy Osbourne. These were the years

00:13that made him notorious, where his offstage behavior threatened to become

00:16more famous than his music. Like the time Ozzy bit the head off a dove at a

00:21record company meeting.

00:22You, you've actually, you bit the head off a, was it a pigeon?

00:26Well, it's my hubby, you know.

00:29Or the time he must took a bat thrown on stage as a toy and bit its head off.

00:34I am trying to play it down somewhat because we're getting a lot of hassle from the animal society because

00:40there's a rumor going on that I'm blowing up goats and I don't know where that comes from, you know.

00:45The day he was arrested in Texas, pissing on the Alamo.

00:48Singer Ozzy Osbourne thinks it's fun to defile public shrines. He says his

00:53greatest ambition is to turn the steps of the White House into a public restroom.

00:56And the terrible moment when it all came crashing down. March the 19th, 1982, when

01:02guitarist Randy Rhodes was tragically killed in a plane crash.

01:06But all that came after.

01:09The story of Diary of a Madman really began back in April of 1979. Fired from Black Sabbath,

01:16his marriage falling apart, some people said Ozzy's career was over.

01:28He was just getting started.

01:38Sharon Arden, the daughter of Dawn Arden, Black Sabbath's manager, convinced him to

01:46put a band together and offered to become his manager.

01:50In London, Ozzy met Bob Daisley, the bass player for Rainbow.

01:55They auditioned drummers and settled on Uriah Heap's Lee Kerslake.

02:00Finally, they flew out a guitar player Ozzy had met in LA.

02:04He was a little guy who had a thing for polka dots and played in an upcoming band called

02:08Quiet Riot.

02:14He was called Randall William Rhodes, known to the world as Randy Rhodes, one of the greatest

02:19guitar players of all time.

02:22Ozzy had found his band.

02:27Debut album Blizzard of Oz was recorded at Ridge Farm Studios in England.

02:32The band clicked, with Ozzy particularly impressed by Randy Rhodes guitar playing.

02:37Released in September of 1980 in the UK, it went to number seven in the charts.

02:41Released in the states the following year, it went to 21 in the billboard charts, while

02:45standout signal Crazy Train went to number nine.

02:49The band toured the US.

02:51By the time they'd finished, Blizzard of Oz had sold a million copies.

02:56Guitar Player magazine voted Randy Rhodes Best New Talent of 1981.

03:00Randy, on behalf of the over half a million readers of Guitar Player magazine in the US

03:06and in 70 countries throughout the world, I'd like to present you with the 1981 Best New

03:11Talent Award.

03:12Congratulations.

03:14Less than a year after they recorded Blizzard, the band were back at Ridge Farm Studios to record

03:18the follow-up, Diary of a Madman.

03:22Ozzy'd had the Diary of a Madman idea in the back of his mind for years, a loose concept

03:26that came from the madness in his life, and a genuine fear that he was losing his mind.

03:31This Diary of a Madman isn't just a thing that I've thought of now, it's just an idea

03:34where I've moulded it round in my head for hours, and in actual fact, when I put it to

03:38my management, I thought I was totally insane.

03:40Where would you like us to go?

03:41Would you like us to go over to the fireplace?

03:43We set fire to each other.

03:46After months of touring, it was the band who were on fire, and all four members contributed

03:50to the songwriting.

03:51Ozzy was no longer in the shadow of Black Sabbath, but a solo star in his own right.

04:01The title of the first single from the album said it all, he was flying high again.

04:07On one hand, the song seemed like another of Ozzy's drug anthems, and throughout this

04:11time he was indeed being a bad, bad boy, but it could also be seen as a triumphant two

04:16fingers to everyone who had written him off.

04:19The guitar solo by Randy Rhodes was like a gauntlet being thrown down to the guitar players of

04:24the 1980s.

04:42Album opener and a second single from the album, Over the Mountain, sounded heavy, but

04:46it came with a positive message about finding the magic in yourself.

04:49Everyone has got a certain amount of craziness in them, and I'm the guy to unleash it for

04:53you if you like.

04:54Randy Rhodes supplied a suitably mad guitar solo.

04:57If You Can't Kill Rock and Roll showed a softer side of the band.

05:08The lyrics were no less heavy, as Ozzy and Bob Daisley took aim at what they saw as the

05:13lies of the music business.

05:24In between, there was the Menacing Believer, Power Ballad Tonight, the voodoo symbolism of

05:29Little Dolls, and the mysteriously riffy S.A.T.O.

05:34And then there was the album closer, Diary of a Madman, an ambitious six minute epic that

05:39ends the album in grand style.

05:47All this would be overshadowed by what happened next, but 40 years on, the music remains.

05:52Diary of a Madman is the sound of a time bomb ticking, the crazy train coming off the rails,

05:58instead of a band at the peak of its powers.

06:01Few bands ever flew as high.

Ozzy Osbourne: The Story of Diary Of A Madman | Classic Rock | Louder

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